Bedtime Stories Part 2

Wyona and I were too tired to read our emails a couple of days ago. But we agreed we could listen if they were read to us as a bedtime story for us.  Greg agreed to read.  We listened. That worked.  Last night, just as we were going to sleep we begged for more stories.  With no book in hand, he free-lanced and asked if we knew what three ingredients make China so successful today.  

Was it the opium balls, I guessed, since I had gone to the lecture on how the opium wars had nearly destroyed China.  Greg, who had also been at that lecture, said he wasn’t thinking along that line, but he had three other things to share.  

The Chinese dictator in the 1980’s who opened up the way for there to be a Chinese business class – that was one important event.  Having a single party system in China, that helps to get a lot done.  There is no opposition getting in the way of progress.  

The third item making China successful is an inexhaustible supply of labour.  Without hardly a pause between Greg’s last word in that sentence, and the beginning of the next sentence, Wyona seemed to be interrupting him.  She was not for she said, would you believe Greg is already asleep. 

No kidding, I said, waiting for Greg to pipe up.  A long silence.  You have got to be kidding!

“Yes,” said Wyona. “ I could tell he was dosing off when his words became slower and more carefully articulated. He is way under right now. Our laughing is not going to wake him up.  I hope you can remember what he said for it is over now.”

I didn’t care if Greg goes to sleep in the middle of the bedtime stories.  I learned three important things about China from him– more than I can remember from the volumes I was reading before I left on this trip.

Greg is a fantastic travelling companion.  He can gives deeper, more academic lectures than the ones we hear on the boat. All he has to hear is a question asked and see an interested listener.

Greg?  Why am I seeing so many shipping containers and no factories.  This is going on for miles and miles.  Maybe 20 minutes now.

Greg?  Why are there so many road fly overs and round abouts and no vehicles using them  -- no private vehicles on them, and no semi’s? 

Greg?  How did you know the exact spot on the street where the incident with the tank took place just before Tiananmen Square?

Greg?  How do you know which line on the subway we should be taking?  And how did you spot the entrance to the underground.

Greg?  Why are the police stopping all of those kids at the bottom of the escalator and demanding to look at their passports? 

Greg has an answer for everything.  For the last question, he reminded me that Chinese people are not free to travel in their own country, as we are. They have documents that tell them where they can go and where they cannot go. 

- Arta

Sister Trip

Moiya, Wyona and I took a sister trip -- something we learned to do years ago.  I would like to say it is an annual event that it is driven by some anniversary, but no ... it just happens when one of us thinks – why is it that we are so busy we don’t have time for each other anymore.  We hop in a car and have no idea if we will be driving 2 miles or 200.  We only know we are getting away together.

This week Wyona was the driving force behind organizing a trip which is a lot of work and entails the following: make sure that all three of us can leave the property at the same time,  making sure that we have enough money behind our credit cards so as not to not be hindered by any of the hidden costs that such a trip can incur.

Moiya saved money on yesterday’s sister-trip.  Lunch at Red Robins was a burger for each of the three of us.  She is the only one who turned her burger over to examine the bottom of the bun.  Now, tell me, who does that in a restaurant. But ¾ of the way through, she had to take a look and then ask the waitress about the green splotches on the bottom of the bun.  The manager came out to assure Moiya that he had thrown out the rest of the buns in that package, and that this item would be deleted from her bill and to thank Moiya for so graciously bringing that fact to their attention.  That is the moment (recognizing the now low price of Moiya’s bill) that Wyona decided it was her turn to treat Moiya to lunch -- the bill being only a Coke and some sweet potato fries.

At our last stop of the day, Costco, we stopped for an ice cream cone.  I am the one who loves cones.  They got cones, but the clerk delivered a sundae to me.  “I wanted a cone,” I said.  “Yes, I know,” said the cashier, “but the helper delivered a sundae, so I will just charge you 23 cents more.”  At 3 pm, I am too tired to argue and deliver the extra money to her.  She takes a cone and places it upside down on my sundae.  Now doesn’t look appetizing to me.  And further, I am worrying that someone watching will think that is the way I order my sundaes. In the meantime, someone in the food line-up has commented on Wyona’s new pillows, and in a monologue has told Wyona that the now non-stop chatter lives in Kelowna for 7 months of the year, rent4s in Hawaii for 5 months of the year, has done this for 35 years and has cruised 8 times. The woman is also pulling her latest cruise agenda out of her purse to show Wyona – who really hasn’t had the chance to say a word to her. Then the woman says, “So nice, chatting and off she goes,” Wyona. still silent, watching her leave, shakes her own head and asks, “What did I do to deserve that!”

Wyona told me never to leave my bill taped onto items in the cart. Someone might steal the bill and the groceries, she said, and then Wyona checked that I didn’t ignore her caution to me and watched me until I tucked my receipt into my purse.  When it was time to produce our receipts at the Costco Exit Wyona couldn’t find hers.  The futile exercise of finding her now-lost- receipt lead to checking each of her pockets – of which she has many ... on every outfit she wears, just not on today’s clothing, but that is her regular uniform – lots of pockets. Watching her check each pocket is like seeing someone give themselves their own security pat down.  Next she dumped out her purse onto the camera counter where the clerk also helped her try to find the receipt, by going through multiple papers of the day.   

No receipt. 

A third strategy, the camera clerk told her, is to go to customer service and get a duplicate receipt – not a bad thing to do unless you have to do it in the presence of the person you have just lectured about keeping good care of your receipts.

Oh yes.  Sister trips are good trips.

Arta